Education for Families

Upcoming Conferences

Palestinian Cleft Society 5th Annual Conference
December 2, 2011 Partnerships:  Patients, Families and Cleft Practitioners – Red Crescent Society Building, Al Bireh, Palestine 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Sponsored by the Palestinian Cleft Society; Funded by SmileTrain; In Partnership with Operation Smile and ResurgeSchedule of Events:

7:30 – 8:00 AM: Breakfast

8:00 – 8:10 AM: Opening Remarks Moanad Aker, DDS, President PCS/Moderator

Session Moderator: Hanin Al Sheikh, SLP

8:10 – 8:25 AM: Wa’el Halaby, OMFS:  “Partnering with the Palestinian Ministry of Health”

8:25 – 8:40 AM: Rushdi Amr, DMD: “Building Partnership with Operation Smile”

8:40 – 8:55 AM: Hala Nahhal, RN: “Community Work with Cleft Patients”

8:55 – 9:10 AM: Moanad Aker, DDS: “Partnerships with Palestinian Institutions”

9:10 – 9:25 AM: Libby Wilson, MD: “Pitfalls to Partnerships on Cleft Teams”

9:25 – 9:45 AM: Isra Hamdan, Physiotherapist: “Fieldwork with Cleft Patients”

9:45 – 10:00 AM: Short Break

Session Moderator: Sayf Saed, MD

10:00 – 10:20 AM: Khalil Albaba, MD: “The Role of ENT in Patients with Clefts”

10:20 – 10:40 AM: Alison Dybdal, SLP: “Speech Assessment after Palate Repair”

10:40 – 11:00 AM: John van Aalst, MD: “Complications after Cleft Surgery”

11:00 – 11:15 AM: Emad Abdel Khaled Hussein, DDS: “Clefting Rates in Palestine: The Makassad Experience”

11:15 – 12:30 PM: Long Break

Session Moderator: Moanad Aker, DDS

12:30 – 12:50 PM: Hala Borno, BS: “Development of a Registry to Follow Congenital Anomalies in Palestine”

12:50 – 13:10 PM: Hashem Shahin, PhD: “Syndromic Cleft Palate in Consanguineous Palestinian Family”

13:10 – 13:30 PM: Jaffar Ayesh, OMFS: “The Prevalence of Oral Candidal Colonization among Surgically Treated Cleft Patients Compared with Health Controls”

13:30 – 14:00 PM: Family Cases: Experiences of Families with Children who have Clefts: “Finding Cleft Care in Palestine

14:00 – 15:00 PM: Lunch

16:00 – 18:00 PM: Adjourn

Faculty: Moanad Aker, DDS: Jerusalem, Palestine (President, PCS); Khalil Al Baba, MD: ENT Department, Hebron Government Hospital; Hanin Al-Sheikh, SLP: Ramallah, Palestine (Vice President, PCS); Rushdi Amr, DDS: Hebron, Palestine; Jafar Ayesh, OMFS: Hebron, Palestine; Hala Borno, BS: UNC, Medical Center, USA; Wa’el Halaby, OMFS: Ramallah, Palestine (Secretary, PCS); Isra Hamdan, Psyiotherapist: Al-Quds University, Palestine; Emad Abdel Khalek, DDS: Ramallah (Chair of Research Committee, PCS); Nasr Jafr, MD: ENT, Jenin Government Hospital, Jenin, Palestine; Hala Nahhal, RN: Al-Quds University, Palestine; Sayf Saed MD: Plastic Surgeon, Bethlehem, Palestine (Treasurer, PCS); Alison Dybdal, SLP: Los Angeles, CA, USA; John van Aalst, MD: Plastic Surgeon, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Libby Wilson, MD: Plastic Surgeon, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Hashem Shahin, PHD: Hereditary Research Laboratory, University of Bethlehem, Palestine; Isra Hamdan, Psyiotherapist: Al-Quds University, Palestine

Previous Conferences

Palestinian Cleft Society 4th Annual Conference Highlighted a Family The 4th Annual Conference of the Palestinian Cleft Society was held in Al-Bireh at the Red Crescent Society Building (Al-Hilal Al-Ahmar) on December 3rd, 2010. Dr. Mohanad Aker (Associate Dean of the Department of Orthodontics, Al-Quds University and President Elect of PCS) organized the Conference, which was entitled “Comprehensive Cleft Care:  Teaching Practitioners and Raising Public Awareness.”

Dr. Najwa Kamal Ersheid, MRCP FRCP, a pediatrician from Ramallah, led a question-and-answer session with the family whose child is affected by cleft lip and palate.  The key frustration for the family was an inability to obtain team care. They went to multiple surgeons and health care practitioners, in order to locate treatment for their child.  The father, at the end of the discussion, expressed great frustration and anger about the lack of coordination in the care for his child.The next speaker was a Prosthodontist from Al Quds University (See Picture), who spoke on the topic of caring for children with clefts who develop gum-based disease. The key is prevention, maintenance of oral hygiene, and careful parental supervision of oral hygiene.Dr. Emad Abdel Khaled (Associate Professor of Orthodontics, American University of Jenin, and Chairperson of the Orthodontics and Dentistry Core Committee) spoke about teamwork and team care.  He emphasized the need for coordination among disciplines and leadership. He defined a leader as someone who has vision, and can lead a group toward a common goal.